Our Fatal Failings (Twisted book two)

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Imani’s POV

Iris squeezes my shoulder. “You’ve got this.” She lifts her rifle over her shoulder, her amulet glowing a hot pink. Excitement, anger and the need to kick ass. Nia kisses my cheek. 

“That pill is set to wear off in ten minutes. Make sure you have everything in control before then.” The arranges my papers neatly and places a handgun on the table. “Special bullets, steeped in poison, if worst comes to worst.” I nod and she steals away, her amulet glowing a soft blue as it hides her in the trees. I smell the air. I can’t trace them either. This is really our best plan yet. 

I can feel him coming up the hill. I don’t give him all my emotions, but I do give him my panic. Let him think he’s taking me by surprise. I cross my legs when I see his wolf and four others, charging up the hill. He shifts, leading them all to do the same. My eyes connect with a woman’s--Elena, that woman making moony eyes at Jonah last I saw her. In my darker moments, I would’ve let her have him. I would’ve taken a pill or a potion and let her have him. But the plans have changed. Her grin is wicked. I bet she wants me dead.

My eyes shift and I lock gazes with him. I breathe in deep. Like I expected, he smells wonderful. I shift in my seat. It’s been a long time, more than a year and while the ache wasn’t so bad after four, I went through them unmarked. My son is nearing five months old now--Andreas--how is he doing? I shouldn’t think about him right now. “Please,” I gesture to the seat in front of me. “Sit.”

“Imani, get up.” The Alpha command shakes in my bones. I want to stand. “And get over here right now.” He breathes deeply and I can feel his emotions barreling into me. I grimace. So now you let me see, don’t you? 

I can close my eyes and see silk sheets, two sweaty bodies, tangled together by his anger, turned to passion. ‘You won’t leave me again,” he’d say, ‘you won’t leave me again.’

I suck in a deep breath, opening my eyes to see his large grin. I wipe the line of sweat on my forehead. “All yours and more,” he says. “When you stand up.”

“Please sit down,” I ask again. “I won’t repeat it twice.”

“I’d hate to snatch you front seat dear. You must have a nice view of the battle. Perks of being a rebel leader, hmm?”  

I look behind him, at his sneering soldiers. They should show deference. I am their Queen afterall. “Then you four, sit. Now.” I can feel the command rolling off my skin. A Luna command. I’m powerful too. Jonah’s eyebrow arches as he twists around, finding his stunned soldiers sitting down. 

“What are you doing-”

I cut his words with the ring of a shot, seperate from the deadly poisoned handgun sitting under this table. This one at my hip, it fires tranquilizer darts and it’ll put them to sleep. Jonah lunges forward to knock it out my hand, but two witches fall from the trees, putting guns to the heads of the two soldiers still awake, wavering between sitting and standing by the forces of our commands. Two more shots ring out and they fall. The witches disappear. I smile. “Now, will you sit down?”

Jonah gapes at me, his eyes scanning the treeline. “How many?”

“Enough,” I say, tapping the table. 

“I could howl. It would be all over for you.”

I grin. “It would be all over for you too. Would you like us to die together on this hill? Romeo and Juliet?”

He clenches his jaw, pulls out the chair and sits down across from me. “You’re too scheming to be any Juliet.”

“And you’re not nearly sappy enough to be Romeo.” I sift through the papers on the table. “I have a proposal to end this war.” I pull one free from the pile. “We have demands.”